Of Ravens and Wolves
by Kairo Laroche
Summary: Years in the future (but not many), Dirk and Dave find themselves hunted by things that called themselves Hunters. Human in appearance, the guise hides something nasty underneath. Dirk falls prey to the Hunters who will stop at nothing to get their claws on them both, but the younger of the two will suffice for the time being.


"Bro, why are we here?" the younger of the two blonde males asked, almost whining but not quite. He didn't like these sort of places, they were filled to the fucking brim with creeps. Creeps with tacky weaponry and the attitudes to match, gods how he hated these places. His brother didn't seem to even mind much that they were here, but he got the sense that he wasn't as okay with it as he let on. The younger Strider knew that it was necessity, ammo was needed and this was a place to get it. One of the few caches across the old, run down town that still had a faint spark of life in it. Dying as it might've been, he could catch traces of life here and there but they were fleeting. Forgotten in an instant when the threat of danger presented itself.

"Relax, Dirk. We won't be long, you can stand outside if it makes you feel better." The elder Strider would never put his brother in an unnecessarily uncomfortable situation if he could help it, but in these desperate times. One couldn't always afford to complain. Complaining exposed one's self and made them vulnerable. Sighing, Dirk waved his brother on. "Fine, go." He'd sit outside and wait for as long as he could stand it anyway, he listened as Dave and his lady companion vanished into the inconspicuous, run down building that used to be a home for elderly people when they could no longer care for themselves. He supposed it was still just that, but he knew that there were no more nurses to tend to elderly couples here. As bad of shape as the building had become to be in with the recent years, war and disease did a number on smaller towns like this.

Leaning back, Dirk settled on the steps out in front of the building to stare blankly at the sky. He had removed the helm he wore, setting it aside while his gaze traveled upward. One hand rested on the darkly colored helm, it seemed to match the mood of the clouds that day. The sky was dark, it seemed like rain would begin to pour down over the town any second, Dirk didn't know if he would mind sitting in the rain or if it'd be something he would rather avoid. In his current outfit, perhaps it was better to avoid it. He lowered his gaze back to the earth, idly observing the old pharmacy across the street. Windows were broken and the door had been broken down, hanging on barely with one hinge. There were few nice buildings left in town anymore, the only ones that seemed to be left in tact were the library and a  
few of the other buildings that were made of brick and stone. Those were the only sort of buildings that were in tact, in most degrees.

Several minutes passed since his brother and his girlfriend vanished into the old building, Dirk could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. As though something bad were coming, he couldn't chalk it up to the electricity in the air because that feeling was entirely different than this. Shifting, Dirk stood and decided to retreat into the old building. He stooped to scoop up his helm off the sidewalk, his armor clinking against itself as he did. The dark color of it made it seem as though he were made from shadow, the gold highlights of it was the only thing that really stood out. He turned to go into the building, he'd been inside the building once before but he didn't entirely remember where the secret door was to enter the hideout where his brother was. 

Slinking through the double doors, Dirk tread carefully over the debris that was littered across the floor. It was just as run down as he remembered, it smelled of dust and mildew. It was clear the walls were rotting from the inside out, ceiling tiles were missing and rats nests were obvious in the various holes that had been chewed into the walls. Who knew how infested this place was now? Once so clean and sterile, it was just a haven for pests and little beasts that made it their home now. Shaking his head, he moved down the hallway as he followed fresh footsteps in the dust that lead to a secret door. It wasn't too obvious, people came and went more often than not so one set of foot prints wouldn't really stand out from the others.

As he tread into another room, one with tables set up as though it were some communal entertainment room. Dirk froze. Staring blankly at what should've been empty, he was met with several stares. All of the faces he saw were of middle age and older, all of them were not amused. He blinked furiously a few times, rubbing at his eyes. The room was empty again. Maybe he should lay off the all-nighters, they were known to mess with him sometimes if he did it for more than a few days straight. It had been about a week, so it wasn't out of the question that his eyes would play tricks on him. How creepy that was, he put it out of his mind as he turned to reach for the door where he figured his brother would be hiding.

"Well, what do we have here?" An unfamiliar voice caught his attention, his head snapped to the left where he heard the voice come from. Gritting his teeth, he laid his eyes on a group of three people. Hunters..that was never a good sign. They'd seen his face, that was also a bad thing. Quickly jamming his helmet onto his head, a little too forcefully perhaps but necessary. He drew one of his swords, the other hanging on his hip. The situation was uncomfortable at best, but with three hunters. It just turned into a bad day.

The lead hunter was tall, lean, and not so great looking. His pallor looked like that of a dying man, the long, grayish mane he had was pretty poorly cared for. His clothing was hardly better than that of a poor man's set of clothes, torn flannel over-shirt, black t-shirt, and ratty blue-jeans that had several tears in the legs. One in the left knee and several others on the lower part of the leg with both. That said, his companions weren't in much better condition. One other male and one female, both were, without a doubt, armed to the teeth and dangerous. Why else would they be here? Attempting to attack a fully suited warrior?

It wasn't but a few scant seconds before Dirk felt someone tug on the cuirass of his armor, yanking him back into a room. It took all he had to keep hold on his sword as opposed to letting it slide from his hand in surprise. "Get in here, idiot!" He heard his older brother hiss, dragging him through the door way to get him out of harm's way. For the moment, anyway. When he was let go, Dirk was pretty much dropped on the floor. The door was partially open, mostly because he seemed to be holding it up. Yanking his foot back, he kicked the door shut. "Why the fuck are Hunters here, bro?" he asked, not exactly ecstatic that they were lurking around. Someone, he didn't see who, slammed a bar down over the door to delay them for a time.

Dirk rolled back and onto his feet, picking up his sword to put it away. "We gotta move, Dirk. So get your ass in gear," Dave snapped. He didn't explain why, then again. He didn't need a reason why, those guys were trouble and Dirk knew it all too well. They'd come close to taking Dirk's life once, if it weren't for Dave..well. He wouldn't have gotten away with just a scar on his back, one that could've crippled him for life if it weren't for his brother's quick movements and quick thinking. It was something Dirk would never forget, not so long as he lived and still could fight. It was a nightmare that would plague him for the rest of his life and possibly eternity, since Dave had taken some of the blow for Dirk.

"I'm right behind you," and he was. At least for part of the way, since Dave and his girlfriend made it to the tunnel that lead underground before he did. Behind Dirk, it didn't take long for the Hunters to break down the door behind him. He could hear scratching and bashing against it, that wooden beam wouldn't last forever. "Blast it open if you have to! We need to capture those damned Striders!" The lead male's voice carried surprisingly well into the room, one that was supposed to be sound proof.

Dirk dropped into the tunnel to haul ass after the group ahead of him, his brother in the lead as he was familiar with the underground tunnel that lead to a series of them underground. "Hurry, Strider.." he muttered to himself, flinching briefly at the explosion behind him. They'd not be going back there, the room was surely destroyed since the door was probably blown off the hinges. Though with the explosion, their escape route was also blocked from that room so they couldn't follow. Or so Dirk thought. In his heavy armor, it was difficult to move through the cramped space but he didn't want to leave any of his armor behind. It was everything to him, suited perfectly for him with everything going on. Dave had always insisted he wear it, should emergencies like this come up.

What followed was a bit of a blur, the smoke that began to fill up the tunnel from behind would soon catch up with them since it had nowhere else to go. All Dirk could remember was the sounds of his own labored breathing as he struggled not to breathe in the smoke and still be able to keep up with the others, all he heard shortly after the others vanished from view was a partial sentence followed by an explosion. "Hurry up, Dirk! Damn it all, don't fuckin' -" Dave's voice had been cut off, the tunnel just seemed to collapse all at once. When he nearly reached the end, debris from above just caved in. Rocks, wood, all of it collapsed in all at once. The force of the explosion was enough to send Dirk's helm flying, the horns on it were jammed into the wall rather deeply.

"Dirk! Dirk!" Dave shouted, watching debris crumble in and bury his brother. Was he dead? Surely not, his armor would have protected him from almost everything. Explosions..were usually mostly ineffective for that suit of armor. It took a few moments to realize that the helm of his brother buried itself into the wall, his crimson hues traveling towards it as Jade called out to him. "Dave..look," she spoke softly, not wanting to disturb him but he needed to see. "It's..Dirk's helmet, Dave.." she spoke heavily, not wanting to believe that they'd lost Dirk in that explosion and collapse but proof seemed to speak pretty clearly. He didn't answer when Dave called for Dirk, he was either dead or unconscious and would very soon be dead.

"Man, we gotta go. I'm sorry, but ain't nothing we can do right now. The kid's gone, let's go." As much as Dave hated to admit it, the guy was probably right. "Fine," he agreed, albeit reluctantly. Going over, he yanked hard to dislodge the helm from the wall. It would be the only piece of Dirk he had and he wasn't going to leave it behind. "Let's move, c'mon Harley." He turned to follow after the man, to one of the other safe buildings. At least until the commotion died down, they could come back for Dirk's body. Or whatever was left of it after that blast.

The thought made Dave sick, he felt bile rise in his throat. He swallowed it for now, he hated to leave Dirk behind. It went against all he believed in, all he wanted to do. But for now, he had to think of Harley and the other guys. He wasn't going to risk their lives for his kid brother's body. They ran hard, to reach their back up safe haven to wait for the commotion to die down. After that blast, the sector's guard would show up to assess the damage. They'd probably dismiss it as a gas leak, those Hunters were damn clever..they could make it look like whatever they wanted. The world's stupid government would cover up what really happened so no news paper would report what actually happened. Dirk's body wouldn't be mentioned, they wouldn't even sort through the debris. It'd just be another sectioned off building, restricted to the public.


End file.
